Lost memories
by Aikaihoro
Summary: They got separated since they were small. He went through a lot and so did she. Suffering from memory loss they both walked into separated paths, not knowing about each other's existence anymore. Even though they meet again, they just don't remember. The key to unlocking is right in front of them though. Can you guess the four letter word already?
1. The mission to our adventure!

**Disclaimer : I do not own Fairy Tail (2014). It's owned by a man... Who likes to torture the feelings of his fans ;^; Yes! I'm talking about you Hiro! **

**I have a great friend who beta reads my chapter ~ May you enjoy it.**

* * *

Natsu Dragneel was sitting at his usual table in the guild. He was doing two of the worst things he was , one : thinking and two : thinking quietly. This came quite as the shocker to his nakama. All their eyes were focused on him as if they were watching a caged animal in the zoo. He scratched his head in frustration as if it felt like a part of his memory was missing. He felt like he forgot an important person. Someone whom he met before Igneel disappeared. Didn't he have some play buddy when he was younger? Why couldn't he remember a damn thing? He clicked his tongue a few times and started digging even deeper into his memory. The thought of meditating did come into his mind, but he had quickly brushed that thought away. He simply didn't have the patience for it.

"What was it again?" He wondered aloud. Leaning back in his chair and placing his feet on the table. His arms crossed over his chest and his face displayed a face of someone who was thinking really hard.

"Oi flame-brain, stop doing that. You're scaring the hell out of everyone, "Gray snapped at him, casually taking off his shirt and pants without noticing it himself.

"Shut up ice princess," He calmly replied, yet another shocker for the guild. Natsu. Dragneel. Just. Reacted. Calmy. To. Gray. Fullbuster!

"Oi oi, Natsu doesn't seem like himself today," Droy said, voice filled with fear.

"O...o," Jet replied, not knowing how to act or comment to this.

"Thinking is man!" Elfman yelled totally out of sync with his guildmates, making Evergreen groan. Deep down Evergreen's heart she cared for Elfman, but sometimes she would get frustrated by that simply word "man", which he keeps shouting at the most random times. She pondered if he was maybe man enough to... a blush crept on both her cheeks as she kicked Elfman in the guts and shouted :"Baka!" before walking away. Elfman kneeled down pain, placed both his hands on his aching jewelry and whimpered in pain, wondering what he had done wrong to deserve this painful experience.

"Ara, I think Natsu might be in love," Mirajane giggled as one hand cupped her cheek, with a cheeky smile plastered on her lips,"Isn't that cute?"

"Yeah yeah," Erza nodded in agreement, half heartedly. After all she was eating her delicious strawberry cake and distraction is absolutely forbidden when eating world's most delicious cake.

"Isn't love a wonderful thing Charle?" Wendy smiled at her white exceed totally going along with the flow of the guild.

"It sure is Wendy," Charle smiled back at her friend, but really having her doubts that the dense dragon slayer is in love. Instead she just wondered if he might have eaten something weird for lunch. Natsu let out a groan of frustration giving up this -thinking-. It was too boring and frustrating. That's why he hated thinking. Nodding his head, he accepted leaving this matter behind.

"Yosh yosh, oi ice perverted princess," He yelled at Gray, obviously picking a fight after composing himself.

"What did you just call me?!" Gray snapped at him, "I dare you say that again Flame brained idiot." They were about to go into fists when suddenly the guild doors opened. Revealing their blonde haired teammate in team Natsu with a flying blue exceed beside her head. A soft breeze blew through her beautiful blonde locks and it was as if Natsu saw sparks flying. Natsu stared at her totally enthralled by her beauty, causing him to be distracted from what he was doing and got punched by Gray to the other side of the guild. He landed with a loud thud on the table breaking the thing in half, but quickly got on his feet again. Instead of fighting back he dash-walked to Lucy and Happy, leaving behind a flabbergasted Gray. This did not only affect Gray, the whole guild stared in awe how Natsu forfeited from the match so easily.

"We're back with the groceries Mira," Lucy said placing the bags on the counter.

"Thanks Lucy-san, I am sorry for the trouble," She flashed her bright smile at her, making Lucy smile an equally bright smile back.

"No, it's fine," Lucy replied, feeling quite happy being able to help her nakama. "Here's your fish, Happy." Mira handed the blue exceed his deserved reward for shopping groceries. Even she kind of figured that all he did was probably nagging Lucy when they were heading back to the guild.

"Aye!" He replied happily and gladly accepted the fish eating excitedly from it.

"So what did you buy?" Natsu asked, popping out of nowhere. "Natsu!" Lucy squeaked, surprised by his sudden appearance, "Don't surprise me like that. You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Heart attack? You look fine to me Luce. Here you go again, saying weird things, " He replied, making Lucy groan in frustration. Sometimes she wondered how he came this far in life with being so dense. _Dense_. Dense is seriously the ultimate word to describe this dragon slayer. He might be an amazing fighter, but whenever it was about using his brains he is a real sucker.

"No no, Natsu, it's just an hyperbole for saying that you really surprised me, because you suddenly appeared out of nowhere," She explained to her dense friend.

"Ooh, I see," Natsu said nodding understandingly, "So want to go on a mission Luce?" he asked and gave her one of his toothy grins. She pondered about it for a second. Going on a mission with the fire dragon slayer might be easier than going on one on her own, but with the damage he would do on the houses... She could always try holding him back and say... who is she kidding. Natsu was more obligating her than requesting. If she refused him, he would whine to her as if there is no tomorrow or he would look sadly at her with these cute puppy eyes, which she can't resist.

"Sure," she agreed. After all she needed money for her rent and money to fix a few burned places in her house. She is friends with a dragon slayer and a fire one on top of that. Go figure.

"You can pick the mission!" Natsu blurted out. Surprised by his answer, she sort of hesitated. Her eyes drifted off to the calendar that was hanging on a wall. It was the 6th of June. Was it her birthday? Nope. Was it a special occasion? Not that she knew. Was it April fools? It was June so no. Her eyes wandered back to Natsu, studying the fire dragon slayer thoroughly. Sometimes she wished she had the ability to read minds like Cobra.

"Okay,..." she finally said, nodding her head slowly. Natsu, who had been staring at her the whole time, frowned his eyebrows. He seriously wondered what was taking her so long to give him a reply. Lucy walked on her own pace to the request board, often taking a glance or two at Natsu and let her eyes roam over it. She frowned, the requests were all either too dangerous, too less money or just too plain boring.

" Looking for people to work in our coffee shop", she smiled and was about to reach out her hand and take it when the thought of Natsu working in a cafe popped into her head.

_ "Luce! Look I can juggle with the cups!" said a salmon haired idiot while juggling the cups of the shop in his hands, but accidentally dropping them all and breaking the cups, "Oops?" Lucy gulped and thought for a second. She could prevent that right? Just tell him to not play with the cups. Another possibility popped into her head. _

_"Bleh this thing called coffee tastes bitter! Why would people even drink this?" complained a Natsu while sitting on the costumers table and gulping down their drink. She quickly retreated her hand and shook her head. _

She immediately face-palmed herself for even considering taking the request. That was a big fat NO. Her eyes slowly gazed over the other possible requests. _Lost puppy!_ This request was okay, but... it would just be boring to try and capture a puppy as mission, maybe she should leave requests like this to Romeo. And Natsu would probably burn down the place where we were supposed to look at. _Help us planting trees!_ Okay, she honestly loves nature, but this is just stupid! And the reward was only 5,000 jewels, it wouldn't even cover 1/4th of her rent. _Collect a Raven feather._ She quickly let her eyes scan through this leaflet.

_Our request is simply. All we want is that you climb up a mountain with the name 'Mt. Ventail' which is located between Hsugu city and Lairmon city and retrieve us a feather from the dark crow that lives on the top of that._ Reward : 2.000.000 jewels and a silver key. Lucy's eyes almost bulged out. A key and enough money to cover up her rent for a year! She quickly snatched the piece of paper from the request board and skipped to Natsu with it, who had been waiting for her for a while. His face lit up when she came practically skipping towards him. He adored her cuteness even though he didn't even know that himself.

"I got it!" she smiled at him. "Finally, what took you so long though Luce?" he questioned her.

"Sorry!" she half heartedly apologised and shoved the request in Natsu's face for him to read. Actually only the reward part. His eyes almost bulged out and re-read the thing for a good five times before a small whistle escaped his lips.

"Woah! What are we waiting for! Let's go!" he cheered. They both walked to Mira and showed her the request.

"We'd like to take this one!" Lucy smiled at Mira with a Natsu behind her who kept tugging on her wrist.

"It's only you and Natsu?" Mira questioned them, a sly smile lingering on her lips. The two friends felt goose-bumps going down their bodies as they gave her a quick nod and dashed away.

"Happy! Let's go!" Natsu called to his exceed.

"Aye!" he quickly swallowed the last fish on the plate before following his partner and their blonde nakama.

"Oi Mira, did you already put the request about the Raven feather on the board?" Master suddenly asked her when the three friends just left the guild. "Yes I did Master and Lucy and Natsu just departed with that request," she smiled at him. Hearing this he spit out the beer that he had been drinking, "What's wrong Master?

* * *

Natsu paled and shook his head vigorously, "No." he simply stated as he slowly backed away. Lucy face-palmed herself and pulled Natsu on board by his scarf.

"You've got no choice Natsu!" Lucy groaned at the struggling dragon slayer.

"I refuse to ride the train! I can fly with happy!" he argued.

"And exhausting the poor cat? No, it's a three hours ride so just bear with it," she told him. Happy muffled his laughter, entering the train after them.

"Happy!" Natsu called pleadingly to his partner with puppy eyes.

"Aye Natsu, Lucy is right!" he totally sided with the celestial mage, only because he simply didn't feel like flying that distance.

"Traitor!" he whined, even though he knew it wouldn't help his situation. Once on board Natsu let groan escape his mouth and felt his stomach starting to make noises and began to churn the moment he set another step on the train.

"Luce, I don't feel so well," he groaned, falling on the floor since the strength in his legs left him and they were now not capable of holding his weight anymore.

"Seriously? The train hasn't even started moving yet." she sighed and dragged Natsu to a bench, dropping him on the seat with a loud thud, "Heavy..." A small

"Ouf!" escaped his mouth, but with the condition he was in now he couldn't make any other sounds. He almost threw up when the train gave out the signal of their departure.

"Wendyyy... troia..." he sickly moaned, trying his best to not let the food he had eaten this morning flow out his mouth. He got paler every second the train was moving, which was a lot of them.

"Natsu... First of all Wendy didn't board the train and second, did you forgot that you became immune to troia?" she explained to the motion sick Natsu, wondering if he had caught on the words that she had just said. She doubted it since he didn't reply to her.

"I... want... stop... train..." the broken words left his mouth at the speed of a walking turtle. Lucy couldn't help but to let another sigh escape her lips. They were only on the train for around thirty minutes. Their destination was another two hours and thirty minutes away. Giving up on ignoring the dragon slayer she started thinking about how to make his motion sickness feel better. She couldn't punch him unconscious like how Erza did it. Distracting him from his sickness was also not an option and she also didn't have the ability to cast any spells to ease him. After thinking about for another few minutes to see if she could do anything to help him she gave up and just thought about doing what her mom would do when she felt sick when she was younger. She got up from her seat and tilted up Natsu's head. Then she took a seat on the place where previously his head was laid on and placed his head back on her lap. Within a few seconds her scent reached his nose, enough distraction to not think about his motion sickness. His face regained a part of his usual colors again as he enjoyed the smell. Also the soft stroking in his hair was very soothing. Within a minute he fell asleep on her lap. Happy stiffled yet another laughter.

"They liiikkkkeeee each other," he whispered, rolling his tongue so Lucy couldn't hear him. Sometimes an angry Lucy is equal to an angry Erza or at worse times even scarier and Happy rather not get on Lucy's bad side.

"We have arrived at Hrugu city." the intercom said. Natsu was still sound asleep on her lap, making it difficult for her to get up.

"Happy, can you carry him out?" she asked the blue exceed. "Aye!" he replied and wrapped his tail around Natsu's limb body carrying him out the doors. Gladly Lucy managed to also get out before the door closed behind her. "I suppose you could let him sleep a little longer, I will have a chat with the requester first," Lucy told Happy, who nodded her and half dragged half dangled taking Natsu with him. Natsu suddenly woke up, missing the scent that had filled his nose.

"Where are we?" he questioned sleepily, still dangling in Happys tails hold. "You're awake, Natsu?" Happy asked him. He let out a yawn and nodded. "Where's Lucy?" he asked Happy.

"She went to talk with the requester and told me to wait here, because she thought we would disturb the requester," Happy explained. Natsu frowned his eyebrows, wondering why they would have been a disturbance to the people who sent this request.

"Lucy said so?" he asked him, feeling offended, but that wasn't the most important part. What if the requester was a creep and would suddenly attack Lucy? He growled softly under his breath and perked his ears for any sign of danger behind the door. What was taking her so long anyways? He must have been asleep for hours, so she should have been there already for at least an hour. He agreed with his failed logic and kept glaring at the door. When the knob of the door finally turned it was also the time when Happy ran out of magic powers and they both fell, Natsu with a loud thud on the floor and Happy just fell on top of him.

"Ah, I ran out of magic power," he said dryly, not feeling the actual impact of the landing.

"Thanks for the warning, partner," Natsu groaned. Lucy could only bow her head in shame and apologise to the requester for her rude comrades. He just shrugged it off and handed her the map of the place they are suppose to find the feather.

"You got three days," the man nodded at them with a blank expression and entered the door again closing it behind him.

"What's his problem?" Natsu asked, crossing his arms and a frown appeared on his face.

"No idea," Lucy sighed, though in the back of her head she wondered if the man didn't like Fairy Tail mages. But that would make no sense right? He wouldn't put a request on their board if he hated them right? Lucy shrugged of the thoughts and spread the map once they have arrived at the forest.

"Raven feather! Here we come!" Natsu grinned widely and dashed ahead with Happy flying beside him at max speed.

"You idiots! Do you even know the way?!" Lucy yelled after them. Her answer was a simply wave saying _'we will figure it out!'_ Lucy let out another exasperated sigh.

"These idiots..." but the small smile that was tugging on her lips was clearly visible.

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**And done with Chappy 1! I like to keep my rambling at the bottom of the page ovo. So what you thought of the story? If you have any tips don't hesitate to give them! (Plox!) Before this story I wrote an one shot ~ but I decided that I wanted to write a story with a longer story line, so yeah, here I am xD Writing chu guys a story... Well... Yeah . Oh well!**

**I'm going to try to at least post 1 chapter a week ^^/ Hue. Hopefully I can keep my promise, if I don't.. would you please shoot me down with a gun? (Asuka's gun though, I don't want to die yet ;w;)**


	2. Flash oneConnection through the forest?

**Disclaimer : I most certainly do not own Fairy Tail. **

**The story is beta read by an awesome friend and I'm very thankful to her ~**

_**When the sun has set, no candle can replace it - George R.R. Martin **_

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The morning sun was shining brightly down on the forest of Hyugru. Birds were tweeping songs and happily feeding their younglings. The sight was peaceful and calm, until a certain salmon haired idiot strolled by at the speed of light, destroying the quietness, dashing to who knows where. After his long nap he was totally filled with energy or his usual catch phrase. He is all fired up. He zigzagged through the plants and dodged or jumped over tree stumps. Little did the idiot know that the animals were all giving him a deadly glare, telling him to disappear.

"Natsuuuu!" his blue exceed called after him with a worried expression, flying after him at max speed.

"What's the matter Happy?" Natsu questioned him, still dashing through the forest. The small wind breeze was nice against his warm body and he surely enjoyed it, though it was more a storm than a breeze. As expected of a fire dragon slayer and his abnormal body temperature.

"I think we lost Lucy," and to these words Natsu came to a halt. He vigorously glanced around him, again and again, hoping that Happy was just joking. He frowned his eyebrows, being sure that their blonde friend was still beside him a few seconds ago.

"So that means we're lost?" Natsu asked his exceed even though already knowing the answer himself. He might be dense and sometimes an idiot, but he is most certainly not this stupid. Though these three words mix well together, but you would rather not blend them into someone's personality. Sadly enough for Natsu he already got infected by these three words.

"Aye!" Happy replied. Natsu groaned, face-palming before inhaling a deep breath to calm down his brain or something close to calming down. Then he started sniffing around, hoping to sniff out the exit of this forest or maybe catch the scent of his favorite celestial mage. Unfortunately for him he had no luck. All he could smell were the trees and the green plants around them. The smell of nature was nice, but not exactly something he needed at the moment.

"I can't seem to find the exit Happy, maybe you could look for one in the sky?" the dragon slayer requested his friend, scratching the back of his head in frustration.

"Aye sir!" Happy replied and flew up into the air.

"You see anything yet?" Natsu yelled at his partner. All he got in return was a shake of his head. Natsu let another groan escape again and start kicking random stones he found on the ground, mumbling softly,"It's really no fun without Luce." Then he started walking around aimlessly through the forest, hoping to find a way out.

* * *

She had been walking for more than an hour. The map that had been given to her was not only unclear, but also not correct. She wondered if they ever considered that the environment could change throughout the years. When was it again that they drew this map? Like hundred years ago... She let out something that sounded like a mixture between a sigh and a groan. Her feet were hurting real badly and not only that, she also lost sight of her idiotic friends. Fate could be cruel sometimes. She should have known that they would run off to who knows where and get lost in process, but the thing that really frustrated her was that even she was lost. How could she be so careless? She should have questioned more about the map, isn't she usually suppose to be the collective and cautious type? Well it seemed that she wasn't alert earlier the day and now she had to pay the price for her carelessness. After another few steps she decided that it was time for a small break. She scanned the area with her eyes to find a nice place to rest. Her eyes landed on a tree, under the tree was a nice layer of grass for her to sit. She smiled at the perfect outcome and walked to the tree. With a content sigh she leaned against the firm tree and closed her eyes, a small smile tugging on her lips. The peaceful and quiet environment sure were calming her. Lucy loves Fairy Tail and all her friends and she wouldn't trade anything in the world for them, but sometimes they are way too noisy. She wasn't always alone in her apartment either when she really wanted to be. A certain pink haired idiot really enjoyed barging in her house and it really didn't help that he would always bring his blue exceed with him who couldn't stop teasing her twenty four seven.

"Peaceful... calm... quiet...lost...mhnm..., maybe I could use these scenes in one of my stories," she nodded in agreement and dozed slowly off. Here and there a yawn would escape her lips, but soon she was defensively asleep.

_"What? Luigi? What's that for a weird name? Gaw," A salmon haired small boy of five years old questioned her. She puffed her cheeks and crossed her arms. _

_"No. Not Luigi! LUCY!" She snapped at the boy. The small girl with blonde hair had decided that she should try strolling into the forest once in a while. She had written that down on her to do list for the next ten years. And if this list was finished within the ten years she would make a new one for the next ten years. When she wrote it down she thought it was a great idea and maybe also a way to gain some experience in life, but oh boy was she wrong. She knew that her luck in everything was horrible. She knew it and yet she ignored her conscious and decided to stroll into the forest. As you can see, she is all lost now, middle in a forest with a pink, no scratch that, the boy told her it was salmon colored hair. He came to her 'aid?' when he heard her crying and he requested her kindly to shut up like a real prince charming, because her crying was really loud, even though she thought it was pretty quiet. _

_"Alright alright, Luigi, don't get your p*nis in a twist gao," he said as an attempt to calm her down._

_"Pardon, my what?" she asked him, eyes going wide, ignoring the fact that he just called her name wrong again. _

_"P*nis gao?" he said with a look of pure innocence in his face. Lucy grabbed her stomach with both her hands and laughed uncontrollably. The pink haired boy gave her a weird look. _

_"What's so funny? Gaw?" he asked her not getting the joke if she just told him one. "It's panties Salmony, not... you know," she told him as she slowly calmed down from her laughter. _

_"What? No no, Igneel taught me it was P*nis! Gaw!" he argued, steam fuming out if his ears. She couldn't figure out if the steam was from anger, because she corrected him or that he was fuming because she just basically told him that he had been taught wrong by the Igneel person. It seemed like he is someone important to him. _

_"Well, I am sorry, but it's really panties," she said and let out a sigh. _

_"No no no! I am going to ask Igneel and prove you that I was right GAAAOO!" he shouted before running at full speed towards a direction where he came from, fire roaring out of his mouth. Lucy stood there dumbfounded by the disturbing sight, but quickly shook her head. Oh great, she was alone again. Well it was about time she would stop moping and look for the exit, maybe the enthusiastic boy pepped her up a little? Maybe. With a determined look plastered on her face she dashed towards a random path. _

_"Yosh! Exit here I come!" she yelled. She stumbled a few times and almost got hit in the face by a branch, but finally she saw light ahead. Bright, white light. With a big smile she jump-skip-dashed to the light. _

"Oi! Luce! Luce! Wake up!"A voice called at Lucy. She mumbled some words under her breath which came as

"Just a few more minutes," to the extreme hearing of the dragon slayer. When he shook her again she moaned softly as an attempt to stop the shaking. When it didn't stop she snapped her eyes annoyingly open and her brown eyes met a delightful pair of onyx colored eyes, warmly staring into hers.

"N-Natsu?!" she yelped in surprise, eyes going big. Then as if it was automatic, "Get out of my room you pervert!" she yelled Lucy kicking him without a warning.

"Boughuaaa!" Natsu yelped not seeing this kick coming. Then Lucy realized that they weren't in their room. They were middle in a forest, looking for an exit. She glanced around her, seeing that the place changed from where she had been sleeping. There was a calming lake and a big tree hovering over it. Its leaves hanging down on the lake like curtains. It was a wide and open area though and the oddest thing was that there was an apple tree beside the lake. It was really weird, since she had been walking aimlessly around for something like hours and hadn't even encountered any trees with fruits, let alone an apple tree which was in full bloom. She stared flabbergasted at the tree, the thing beside the tree also caught her attention. There was a big stump, which resembled a table and two smaller chairs stumps around it. Did people actually live here?

"Luce! What was that for?!" Natsu whined snapping her back to reality.

"Neh, Natsu where are we?" she asked him, ignoring his question and eyeing the place curiously. A small smile formed on Natsu's lips.

"This is the place where Igneel and I stayed! I just remembered!" he grinned at her. She blinked her eyes a few times.

"Eh? Right here?" she asked him dumbfounded, not believing dragon would fit here. It was spacious, but still, a whole dragon? She shook her head in denial.

"Yeah, but it was more spacious when Igneel and I lived here, we would always burn down some trees so he could fit, hehehe!" and there her explanation was.

"Natsu! Burning down trees is a crime! Wait, did you guys even considered that you could burn down the whole forest?!" she questioned him or more lectured him. Natsu gave her an odd look as if he never considered that.

"Don't worry, Igneel would just flap his wings and a windstorm would carry the water from the lake to the trees," he explained to her. She just face palmed and let out an exasperated sigh.

"Alright, never mind," she gave up trying reasoning with him. She shouldn't even have tried. A small silence overcame her. No squeek-squack feet walking or flip flap wings flapping in the air. Then it hit her that it was suddenly really quiet for some reason. Quiter than usual.

"Natsu, where is Happy?" she asked him, realizing the missing thing. Natsu turned around, face stuffed from the apples in the apple tree. "I dunno," he replied, continuing to munch on the apples, saying I don't know was more a reflex. The question simply just didn't run through his mind as he was preoccupied with eating the apples. Lucy groaned and stamped her way to Natsu.

"You idiot! What if they are poisonous! You want to grow an apple tree on your head this time instead of a mushroom?" she scolded him. Again he gave her that look like a trillion times before telling her that she was weird. Her eyes shot back at him answering '_says the guy with salmon colored hair_'. But he obvious didn't understand her and frowned his eyebrows.

"Geez Luce, why you so worried? The tree was planted by Igneel, it's a magic apple tree and it grows the healthiest apples!" Natsu grinned and continued eating, "You should also eat some Luce! Oh right, Happy went to look for an exit. He will be back soon." Lucy narrowed her eyes, wondering why the question just rung through this thickheaded idiot's head. With a sigh she looked down at the apple in his hand and sighed. It was too tempting, the color was beautifully red colored and seemed incredible ripe. Also the way that the juices were practically leaking from Natsu's mouth didn't help keeping herself sane. She had to fill her stomach with something or she might starve and she is not about to die from starvation middle in a forest, being lost. Finally giving up she reached out her hand and took the apple. "Well... bon appetit then," she said and was about to take a bite when Natsu got abruptly up. Distracted by his sudden movement she couldn't help but to neglect the growling feeling in her stomach a little longer, "Natsu?" she questioned him worriedly. His eyes were wide and he was sniffing the air like a wild animal going overdrive.

'Did the apple break him?' she questioned before slowly moving the apple away from herself. When tears came to Natsu's eyes she knew that the apple definitely broke her best friend. She quickly tossed the apple aside before going to her friend's aid.

"N..Na,-" before she could finish her sentence, Natsu turned towards her.

"I smell... I smell..." he stuttered to her, he really wanted to tell her, share his excitement, but the words weren't coming out, because of excitement. Lucy cocked her head to the side, a question mark popping from her had, "Huh?" With a deep inhale he swallowed back his tears, corners of his mouth twitching upright and turned into his signature grin.

"I smell Igneel Luce!"

* * *

**I hope that what I wrote in italic was clear that it was a flashback xD If not... I failed as an author TT^TT  
Oh well! I still have years to practic****e :3  
Anyways ~ Was the story enjoyable? I hope it was, because... yeah... just because. Gawd I ought to stop rantling, is anyone even reading this though xD?**

**Well ~ -Cough- I wanted to thank the 2 guests and SilverWolfFlight for the review v It really helps knowing your opinions so I could maybe improve some points and structure the rest of the story.**

**Well ~ Time to work on the next chappy, cyaaa 3**


	3. His walking star right?

"Y... You smell him?!" She asked him, flabbergasted. She was astonished, paralyzed and all the other synonyms you can ever find in your dictionary for that word. Him nodding vigorously as respond didn't really help her to calm down.

"Here? In this forest?" Still questioning him in disbelief. Another nod from the fire dragon slayer was her answer.

"Let's go catch a dragon Luce!" he yelled happily, flashing his adorable toothy grin and pulled her on her wrist so she would follow, or more dangle after him.

"O...oi Natsu!" She yelped, getting dragged by him as if she were a ragdoll. She did ponder how it was possible since he always complained about her weight. Then she wondered though, if Natsu might have picked up the wrong scent. After all, why would a gigantic dragon be in a forest? And why haven't they heard him then? Wouldn't Natsu's excellent hearing skills have picked the sound of his flapping wings or something? She glanced at Natsu's face. Just one look at the delightful small tears in the corner of his eyes and she swallowed all the questions down. She couldn't possibly ruin his joy or hope right? She let out a soft sigh and silently prayed to Mavis that it really was his foster dad. She never saw Natsu this happy, it somehow made her feel overjoyed. She continued being dragged by him, sometimes cursing under her breath when a branch would make contact with her face or any other parts of her body. She couldn't do anything but to accept this hurtful marathon run. After all she did just kick him and made him flying against a tree. That was quite mean of her and she totally forgot to apologize. Karma can be a b*tch.

"Igneel! Igneel! Where are you?! I challenge you to a battle," Natsu yelled at the open wide area, finally stopped his dash since the scent was slowly fading away. Lucy almost choked up on hearing the words of challenging the dragon. The outcome was already predictable and after Acnologia and these seven dragons that escaped through the stupid eclipse portal made her sort of scared of dragons. It was just a scary sight to her, with their big teeth and crushable claws also these piercing eyes weren't really kind, but it seems like Natsu fears nothing and no one. Well, exception for that one time that he remembered a monster from the past, which so happened to be himself and then there was Erza, but everyone is afraid of the Titania. Lucy let out an exasperated sigh as she stretches her arm. Natsu's excitement surely weighted heavy on her arm. She could definitely feel it. With a sigh she mumbled something which could be heard as:"Cramps... Muscle pain,.."

"IGNEEEEEEL!" Natsu yelled, or more roared, making Lucy flinch from his suddenly outburst. He was definitely getting frustrated that he couldn't find him, "His scent... is fading away..." he was quivering. Tears of happiness were now stained with sadness in the corner of his eyes, his once happy grin disappeared and a small sob was audible. He was close, so close and suddenly everything, every sparkle hope faded into nothing, into the empty air. The sight was heart wrecking for the celestial mage and she immediately felt anger spur inside her stomach. Rage that his idiot father gave him hope in ever finding him. Couldn't he left a letter behind or a book for this poor boy to at least give him some sort of a hint or maybe an explanation why he left? She didn't have the best relationship with her father back then, but even he managed to leave a goodbye letter for her. Without thinking twice about her actions she wrapped her arms around the emotional wrecked dragon slayer. Ruffling softly through his spiky salmon hair and whispering comforting, soothing words inside his ear. The scent of vanilla and summer breeze filled his sensitive nose and it made him feel comfortable. Real comfortable. He smiled as he nuzzled closer into her embrace.

After a few second of silence the girl came to realize to what she was doing. Her cheeks tinted with a reddish pink color as she wanted to pull herself back, but the salmon haired boy immediately sensed this and only hugged her closer. He felt warmth, comfort and very relaxed in her hug. Her scent made his head feel light as if he was being carried by clouds. As the dense and oblivious idiot, he obviously didn't see through his own intentions or feelings. He just simply likes Lucy. He likes all his nakama. Though his Luce is more special, but obviously he wouldn't tell the others that. Their teasing would come to no end, most frustrating part being him not even getting the most jokes. He just wanted her so badly to be at his side forever, actually he needed her. When their eyes met for the first time he felt a connection between them. Like, he knew this girl, he knew her, but just couldn't grasp from where. He also knew that they would become the best friends. His intuitions never disappoints him.

"They liiiikkkkkkeeee each other," hearing the tongue rolling from Happy, Lucy immediately pushed Natsu away.

"Gwoah!" he grunted when his head connected with a nearby tree for the second time that day.

"This is not what it seems like Happy!", the girl tried to explain herself, but Happy took none of it and kept giggling, "You... ... ... idiot blue cat!" Lucy yelled before taking off and chasing the cat. Obviously the little feline wouldn't just let her catch him. Natsu rubbed his head at the compact, but couldn't help but to grin at the sight. He liked the fact that his two best friends were getting along with each other.

"Man, Luce is strong," he chuckled before dashing to his friends, "Happy, you found the exit?"

"Aye, sir! Follow me!"

* * *

"How much longeeeeer?" Natsu whined, the sound of his growling stomach also getting louder after each step. They finally made it through the forest and were now on their way to the mountain. When they found the exit of the forest and tushed out of it they came across a small village named Hsugu city and decided to take a small breather there and maybe find a new map. Gladly the folks there were welcoming the wizards with open arms and had offered them free food. Lucy being polite as she is wanted to refuse the food offer, but how was that even possible with a food monster as Natsu beside her? The answer is simply no, it's not possible. Natsu probably drowned half the village's food. Poor villagers, they have to get more supplies after that. They also gave her a much clearer map, at least it was clearer than the last one, not perfect, but it was good enough. Lucy pondered though, why were they so friendly towards them? Did they favor mages? Even so weren't they a bit too friendly? With a sigh she decided to leave the topic behind. An electrifying headache came to her as she took another step. Something like a flash appeared, but she didn't even got a second to think or even see it. She blinked her eyes a few times. She frowned her eyebrows in confusion.

_ "Saaaaalmony! ~," whined a little four year old little girl._

_"I told you to stop calling me that Luigi, Gao!" the little boy snarled annoyed. This was their second time meeting and the younger girl was somehow thrilled seeing her forest friend again. "I do not recall you saying that to me and besides, you're also saying my name wrong," she pouted cutely at him. A small tint of pink was seen at the both sides of his cheeks. He wondered if it was wrong to think that she looked... he flipped through his vocabulary list, looking for the right word, wasn't it cute? Yeah, Igneel said that he should use the word cute to describe girls. _

_"W..whatever... gao," he turned his head to the sides, avoiding the gaze of her big brown eyes. He even wondered how the heck they could sparkle. _

_"Neh, Salmony, want to hang out with me?" she asked the little boy. He raised an eyebrow, thinking about the offer. _

_"What we going to do gao?" he asked her. _

_"Well, I don't know! Anything is fine!" she giggled. He couldn't help but to grin back at her. _

_"You weirdo gao," he replied before taking her hand and dashing through the forest._

"Still not there?" Natsu whined once again.

"Just a little more Natsu," she replied him, not taking her eyes off the map. Natsu groaned again. He was hungry. Really hungry. Even though he ate like a pig just an hour ago. The villagers were probably now low on supplies after their visit.

"But Luceee ~ I am hungry," he pouted. Lucy couldn't help but to sigh. She knew, that if she now looked back she'd immediately give in to his pouting and go look for a place to eat, but if they don't keep walking they wouldn't make it in time. The requestor only gave them three frigging days. They still had to beat the Raven and go all the way back. The fact that they lost a whole day in the forest and a half day today wasn't really helping their schedule. Though it really wasn't their fault. If he had just gave them a clear map to begin with then this wouldn't have happened.

"Luce ~," Natsu pouted, now walking beside her.

"What?" she asked him, eyes steadily focused either on the road or the map.

"Hungry," he groaned again and to emphasize his point his stomach started to growl again. This time she chuckled.

"Okay okay... wait," she responded with an exasperated sigh. She slid her hand into her pocket and dug around for a few second before taking out a pack of matches. She knew him too well and always prepared these for emergencies.

"Oooh! A snack!" Natsu grinned widely and a drool formed on the corner of his mouth. Lucy smiled at him and lit up a match. She handed it to Natsu and told him to not eat it yet. She took another five matches and lit up them up from the fire of the other match.

"There you go, an afternoon snack," she replied him and put the pack back in her pocket. Natsu absorbed the fire on the matches in a whim and rubbed his stomach in satisfaction.

"Thanks Luce! You're the best," he grinned happily. She couldn't help to also reply him in a small smile, she was glad that he smiled again. Though this idiot only had a concentration of three year old, so making him smile wasn't that much of a problem.

"I see the mountain!" Natsu yelled in excitement and dashed forward, again.

"Natsu!" Lucy yelled after him, about to dash after the brainless idiot, but much to her surprise he slowed down, turned towards her and grinned. He was waiting for her. Her eyes widen at the realization and stared at the boy dumbfounded. Her mouth slightly open, trying desperately to dig into her wide vocabulary for the right words, but the sentence construction in her mind failed her.

"Of course we wouldn't want you to get lost again do we?", that being said he grabbed her hand without a warning and ran ahead, never loosening his grip on her. Without her, everything seems less colorful and more boring around him. For some reason he found her really amusing. So his conclusion was simple and short. As cheesy as it sounds. Lucy, his Luce, is a shiny star.

* * *

**AU : I have no words for my delay... -Bows- My apologies ; ^ ; Just... holidays makes you lazy. Ahaha :'D**


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